The influence of orthographic transparency on word recognition by dyslexic and normal readers.

Abstract

This thesis has investigated the effect of orthographic transparency within a single language, Dutch, on dyslexic readers. Much research has studied this topic between different languages, while this thesis wanted to test the claim that orthographic transparency is not a property of languages, rather of words. By means of a lexical decision task, it was tested whether dyslexic children benefited more from the transparency of words concerning reading accuracy and reading speed than non-dyslexic children. The results showed that the dyslexic children were significantly more accurate judging transparent words than judging opaque words. The non-dyslexic children showed also a significant difference, although the effect of orthographic transparency was slightly greater for the dyslexics. There was no significant difference concerning reading speed for transparent and opaque words, neither for the dyslexic group, nor for the non-dyslexic group. In conclusion, this thesis has confirmed that orthographic transparency plays a significant role within a single language too, showing that it is not a property of languages, but a property of words. This can help to develop new methods for treating children, and also adults, with dyslexia. Because dyslexic readers experience less problems with transparent words, treatment can focus more on the difficulty with opaque words. However, more research is needed on this topic for a better treatment of dyslexic